T E X A^ S ; 



THE 



"LOI^E STAB STATE." 

ITS LANDS, ITS SOIL, ITS PRODUCTIONS, ITS 

CLIMATE AND HEALTH, ITS INHABL 

TANTS, RAILROADS, HARBORS, 

SEAPORTS AND RIVERS. 

The most remunerative, advantageozis and produce 
tive Farming Lands that probably the en^igrant can 
find in the- country. 



By R. p. barker, 

NiLEs, Michigan. 

IP BICE, TWEJSTY-FIVE CENTS. 

NEW YORK: 
C. D. WYNKOOP, PRINTER, 24 & 20 ANN STREET, 



AMERICAN- NEWS CO., N. T., AGENTS. 



ink'jiici accoidhig to Act of C<mgress, hi the year ISTl, bj' 
IS. P. BARKER, 

111 the ('ffici' ot the Librariao of Cougiess, at Wasbiogtoni 



^i^ /3' 



JL _rL Jv. j^ k5 \ 



THE 



44 



LOI^E STAE STATE. 



•»•> 



ITS LANDS, ITS SOIL, ITS PRODrCTIOXS, ITS 

climatp: and health, its IXIIAIU- 

TANTS, KAILROADS, HAKBoKS, 
SEAPOUTS AND IHVEKS. 

The ::20st rerri'iinerqiyyfi,fQ.dvfi''4af:,t\n:s and produc=-- 
tive r arming Lands .ihcit^ipr-ohaMy the <:ni:grA:i: caw 
find in the country. 



By R. p. barker, 

N I L E s , Michigan. 



NEW YORK: 
C. D. WYNKOOP, PRIN'rP:il, -24 X' •>(! ANX S TREET, 



1871. 



^^v^ 

^ 



%^ 



TEXAS. 



AREA. 

'Vhv. portion of IVxiis hiid ott" into couuties comprise 196,299 square 
miles. There are about i;<() organized counties in the State, besides 
72,.S85 miles of territory not yet laid oif into counties. Some of the 
counties are very large, as for instance El Paso county, contains about 
10,000 square miles ; and Presido county 26,000 square miles ; as large 
as many of the States in the Pnion. 

LAND. 

The lands are very rich, the soil being unusually and uncommonly 
deep, although extensive prairies are over and throughout the State. 
N^evertheless, Texas has a much less proportion of prairie to her timber 
land than any other of the Western Prairie States. 

There is no difficulty whatever in an emigrant selecting lands with 
prairie, woodland and water hi most of the counties of the State. Un- 
cultivated land can be bought at from lifty ci'uts to five dollars per 
acre, and improved farms from ten to fifteen dollars per acre. 



m on ucTiojsfS. 

WHEAT. 

VVheat can be grown advantageously in many and various counties 
of the State, but there are some thirty or forty counties in the north 
part of Texas and south of Red River, known as the Avheat region, be- 
tweeii the head of the Neches on the east and the Gaudeloupe River 
on the south-west, Avhicli are, without question, the best wheat lands 
ii\ the State. 



Limestone, Bell, McLennan, Navarro, Dallas, Hill, Ellis, Kaufniaitu, 
Grayson, Fannin, Van Zant and Hunt counties are among and in tliii^ 
belt of counties. Wheat may be grown in a large part of the State^ 
but in wet seasons on the low lands it is liable to rust. Besides and 
independent of wheat, corn, oats, barley and every other grain tliat 
can be raised, may be cultivated with a greater yield than in the Xortb- 
ern States ; while cotton and tobacco can be made a profitable crop. 

The portion of the State in which wheat is cultivated successfully is 
considered rather the best for fruit, especially for apples, pears, peaches? 
nectarines, plums, quinces, grapes, cultivated and wild, and indeed alj 
other kinds of fruit are natural to the soil. 

Xorthern potatoes, sweet potatoes, and all kinds of garden vegeta- 
bles have a prolific growth ; blackberries and dewberries grow wild and 
are not only abundant in the counties mentioned, but all over the State. 

The Texas Pacific Railroad passes through this tier of counties, con- 
necting in Navarro county with the Texas Central Railroad, which goe» 
through the whole length, as near as may be, the centre of this belt of 
counties. There is not extreme heat hi summer — the thermometer 
seldom ever reaching over 85, nor in winter sinks much below W to'-io^ 

COTTON. 

Cotton can be raised in any jmi't of the State. The new lands being 
of very rich soil. It is claimed that Texas lias not only the best cot t-ou 
lands in the L^nited States, but that she lias nioiv rich cotton lands tliau 
all the other cotton States together. 

SEA ISLAND COTTON. 

All Islands and Peninsulas on the coast of Texas are desiralile fin 
growing Sea Island cotton, 

TOBACCO. 

Tobacco can be raised in every part of the State. In VirginiA 
improved tobacco lands are worth about forty dollars per acre. TIk- 
writer not being conversant with the raising of tobacco has made inqui- 
ries of those who are familiar with its growth, and is sanguine in the 
belief that many varieties of tobacco can be cultivated as well and ay 
profitably in Texas, as in the Island of Cuba. The ]irofitableness of to- 
bacco cultivation is sliown in the following tabular statement of tlu^ 
crop of 1870 : 



IMPORTAJSTT STATISTICS. 

l^l'om the St. Louis Democrat. 

Upon the 21st of June, St Louis tobacco dealers will hold the ouly tobacco 
Mr to be convened in this country for the current year. Ui)on that occasion 
{>remiums expressive of the various grades of excellence of the tobacco shown 
are to be lil)erally awarded. Believing that a compact exhibit of all the 
attainable facts concerning the tobacco crop in this country will prove useful 
aad timely, inducing perhaps a more liberal use of fertilizers, a more thor- 
»«gb and generous tillage, greater care in handling and curing and in experi- 
jnentail efforts for the improvement of the tol>acco pjant common to western 
£elds^we begin with the following general statement of the the total crop of 
1870 by States: 

Total pounds 
States- produced. 

Massachusetts 5,200,000 

Connecticut 6,500,000 

i^ew York 8,500,000 

JSTew Jersey 100,000 

Maryland 14,500,000 

Tirginia 65,000,000 

Jjforth Carolina 33,500,000 

■Florida 500,000 

*G?eorgia 1,000,000 

iFkansas ; 2,250,000 

Tennessee 35,000,000 

West Virginia 2,250,000 

Kentucky 40,000,000 

Missouri 18,500,000 

lUinois 14,500,000 

Jn€liana 7,000,000 

Ohio 16,000,000 

Michigan 3,500,000 

Tlie total number of pounds raised amounted to 273,775,000, and the value 
is estimated at $32,206,325. Virginia very largely leads every other State in 
tobacco production. Kentucky stands next in order. Tennessee and North 
Carofina both lead Missouri, and she in turn leads Illinois and every other 
Western State, though Ohio trenches very close upon her showing. The av- 
erage yield per acre in the several States was as follows : 



Lbs. Lb». 

Massachusetts 1,2001 Arkansas 750 



Connecticut 1,450 

New York 800 

New Jersey I,3r0 

Maryland 500 

Virginia 418 

North Carolina 508 

Florida 500 

Georgia 375 



Tennessee 548 

West Virginia 707 

Kentucky 669 

Missouri 992 

Illinois 633 

Indiana 731 

Ohio 700 

Michigan 1,000 



The immense yields of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey per acre 

are induced, of course, by high culture and a liberal use of fertilizers. But this 

care and outlay pays, for not only is a much greater crop produced than by 

the careless culture and from the lean soils of the West, but the quality is also 

greatly improved, and the tobacco marketed from those States brings a higher 

price per pound than does that raised in the West. That this may apjiear more 

clearly to our western tobacco growers, we will put the fact in tabular form as. 

follows : 

Pounds 
per acre. 

Massachusetts 1,200 

Connecticut 1,450 

New York 800 

New Jersey 1,300 

Maryland 500 

Virginia 418 

North Carolina o08 

Florida 500 

Georgia 375 

Arkansas 750 

Tennessee 548 

West Virginia 707 

Kentucky 667 

Missouri 992 

Illinois 663 

Indiana 731 

Ohio 706 

Michigan 1,600 

SUGAR. 

There is a scope of not less than one hundred and fifty miles on the 
coast of excellent sugar lands. Brazoria, Matagorda and Wharton are 
as I understand, among the best sugar counties in the State, and not 
subject to overflo^v. With a rich alluvial soil of from five to twenty 
feet deep of uplands, well timbered and a good supply of stock water, 
I under the new system sugar can be made with a small investment of 
money, and with a less number of hands than formerly, and men ximw^ 



Price 


Cash return 


per lb. 


per acre. 


26 


1312 00 


27 


391 50 


14 


112 99 


27 


315 00 


13 


65 00 


10 


41 08 


13 


66 04 


29 


145 00 


19 


71 25 


13 


97 50 


13 


71 24 


13 


91 i»l 


9 


60 03 


10 


99 20 


8 


53 04 


9 


65 79 


6 


42 00 


20 


200 00 



quaiuted and without experience liave embarked in tliis enttiprise of 
making sugar, realizing from the first crop, as I am inform r^d, sufficient 
money to pay for hinds, labor and all expenditures. 

In these three counties, uncultivated lands can be bouglit at from 
two and one-half to five dollars per acre, and improved farms from ten 
to twenty dollars per acre. Before the war these lands were cultiva- 
ted by slaves, and as I learn, were worth from fifty to seventy dollars 
per acre, but since the slaves have become freedmen, and colored gen- 
tlemen the white emigration will have to supply the necessary labor, 
and can without question make sugar much more profitable than when 
labor was dependent on slaves. 

CORN. 

Corn is indigenious to the soil and climate of the State, bjinging a 
good price and a profitable crop. 

Rye, oats, barley, buckwheat, broom corn, sorghum, millet, ifec, &c,, 
will grow and do well in most parts of the State. 

GARDEN VEGETABLES. 

Irish and sweet potatoes, peas, beans, melons, and all other kind* of 
garden produce can be raised and ai'e common all over the State. 

FRUIT. 

Apples and pears do best in the wheat counties •. i)eaches, plums, 
grapes, cultivated and wild, and all other kinds of Fruit do well and 
grow all over the State. Wild peaches, blackberries and dewl)errie6 
are common in diffc'rent parts of the States. 

CATTLE. 

Excepting in heavy timbered land, which is mostly in East Texas, 
can be raised and made profitable throughoiit the State, and will feed 
on the Prairies during the mild Avinters, without any fodder, or expense 
whatever to the owners. 

SHEEP. 

Like cattle can be taken care of an<l fed on the I'rairies during t*>e 
winter months, and i-equire no fodder or feed from tlie owner. 



HORSES AT^D MULES 

cau be bred; tliey range on the Prairies during the winter like cattle 
and sheep, without any feed or fodder from the owner, and at three 
years old can be sold without breaking at very profitable and remuner- 
ative prices. 

HOGS. 

The Avriter, in traveling through Texas, has seen Hogs feeding on the 
Prairies with cattle, distant several miles from habitations and timbered 
land, and dohig remarkably well, while in the winter they resort to the 
timbered lands, become fat on mast and pecan nuts, and are often 
killed without any feed or corn given to them, and make good bacon. 

BUTTER 

is always in demand at much higher p]-ices than at the North, and the 
cities and towns of Texas are mostly supplied with Goshen and North- 
western Butter, while Milch Cows with Calves by their side can be 
bought at from ten to twelve dollars, and the Emigrant can make 
Butter and Cheese just as well there as anywhere else, and the cows 
can be pastured on the Prairies free of expense. 

DROUGHTS. 

Portions of the State are sometimes subject to Droughts, and in cer- 
tain seasons, the Droughts are the most frequent in the region west of 
Colorado River. A good farmer, however, who breaks up the land 
thoroughly in the winter and plants early in the spring, almost invari- 
ably makes a crop. If shallow ploughing is followed by a drought very 
little will be raised. In Texas, Cotton is more frequently injured by 
having too much rain than by too little. 

INHABITANTS. 

In my several visits to Texas the past three years, I can truly say 
that I have invariably received as a stranger more kindness and hos- 
pitality than usually as a stranger I have received at the North. 



During these several visits, in traveling through the State and when 
stopping at hotels and other places, making myself known as a North- 
ern man, and entering into conversation with these people, they fre- 
quently would say : We Texans are anxious that Northern men would 
emigrate and work our lands. I have invariably replied that our 
Northern men were not only Union men, but a majority of them were 
Radicals. The answer has always been, and in no instance to the 
contrary, that that makes no difference ; we will welcome, and some- 
times they say cordially welcome the Northern Emigrant to the State. 
From my knowledge of these people I do not believe there is a single 
inhabitant in the State, but who is desirous and anxious of Northern 
Emigration, 

The Texans are a reading and intelligent people, taking an immense 
number of Periodicals from all parts of the world, supporting not less 
than one hundred newspapers published in different parts of the State. 

The legislature has established a system of free public schools, for 
the whole scholastic population of the State. 

The large cities and towns ha\e fine churches of Protestant, Catho- 
lic and other denominations, and but few neighborhoods of any size 
is without its churches, preacher and school house, and its Sunday and 
day schools. 

The Germans are somewhat numerous in the State, they are a good 
class of citizens, indtistrious and money making peoj^le. Most of them 
have acqvtired a competence, and many of them have become wealtliy, 
and accumulated fortunes. 

The negro po})ulation is considerably less than one-half of the whites. 
Before the war they increased ra})i(lly in propoi-tion to tlie whites, but 
since have become indolent, demoralized and are decreasing very fast. 

THE COAST REGION 

washes Texas from the Sabine to the liio Grande, a distance of five or 
six Inmdred miles, and on the bays, bayous and rivers are large tracts 
of alluvial and rich soil of lands which can be cultivated. 

The waters abound in the very choicest varieties of fish, oysters are 
abundant, and many of them are equal and not inferior in flavor and 
size to the Blue Point oyster, which the writer, when a boy residing in 
the City of New York, some forty or fifty years ago, wlien visiting the 



10 

iiyster saloons, paid six cents each for. .\lso, turtles and all other salt 
water productions are in great abundance And along the coast the 
forest trees are covered with vines, producing grapes from which mil- 
lions of gallons of wine might yearly be made. 

In the tier of coast counties the cotton is more or less liable to de- 
struction from worms. Figs grow well and are natural to the soil. 

CLIMATE AND HEALTH. 

The low lands like all other jjarts of a new country are not remark- 
ably healthy. 

The cities upon the Gulf, although claimed 1>y those who are accli- 
mated to be healthy, are subjected some years and at intervals with 
yellow fever, which is more fatal to Northern men than those who are 
-•iccustomed to the climate. 

Leaving the Gulf and going into the back country upon the high 
table lands, it not only is claimed to be, but is unquestionably the most 
salubrious, healthiest and finest climate in the world. 

The hardy Northern man toiling in the open air of a summers day 
was never known to be sun struck, and the laboring man after the 
fatigue of the day, almost invariably enjoys after the setting of the 
siin and during the night, a soft, balmy, invigorating, gentle breeze, 
which renders the climate of Texas one of the most delightful on earth. 
While in the winter the inhabitants of the North are suffering with cold, 
and at times with the thermometer below zero, the genial and charming 
climate of Texas, like autumn at the North, renders the winter pleasant 
and desirable. 

In the rich alluvial lands the drinking water is generally of inferior 
(piality, and the farmers have to resort to cisterns of rain water instead 

of wells. 

■ 

TAR, PITCH AND TURPENTINE 

can be made in the eastern counties on the Sabine, Angelina and Neches 
Rivers, accessible to navigation, in greatei' quantities and more ]»rofit- 
able than in the State of North Carolina. 



11 

HARBORS AJSrn SEAPORTS. 

GALVESTON. 

The best and finest seaport in Texas, with its vessels and steam ships 
trading to diiferent parts of the world, is unquestionably the mart and 
converging centre of a large share of the commercial interests of that 
great State. The States of Kansas, Arkansas, the Indian Territory and 
many of the North-western and Southern States, will, with the many 
railroads now being built and terminating at that pohit, make it one 
of the great eomniercial cities of the country. New Mexico, Arizona, 
and the golden sands of California will pour down the Rio Grande their 
mineral riches to the seaports of Texas, while Galveston being as it 
were like the City of New York, will concentrate and control an im- 
mense share of this ti-ade. 

INDIANOLA. 

The second and best port in Texas, is distant about 120 miles front 
Galveston. There are two wharves built from the city inside of the 
Harbor, at a great expense, one by the municip.al authorities of Indian - 
ola, and the other by Charles Morgan & Co. 

They may be from i to | mile in length each. ^Morgan's wharf is. 
built exclusively for the accommodation of his steamships, trading to and 
from Indianola, and besides, Charles Morgan and H. S. McComb, well 
kno\^ai millionaires, are building and constructing the Gulf, Western 
Texas and Pacific Railway to San Antonia, one hundred and fifty miles 
in length, which will divert to Indianola and to the steamships of 
Morgan & Co. a large share of the W(^stern Texas trade. 

SABINE PASS 

is an important harbor and seaport, sixty miles frt)m Galveston, has a 
channel of twelve feet on the outer and inner bar. 

CAWALLO PASS 

is also on the Gulf, one hundred and ten miles from Galveston. Carries 
the same depth of water into its harl)or as Indianola. 

ARAUSUS PASS. 

Another harbor twenty-five miles from Cawallo, is a seaport with a 
shifting bar. 



12 
CORPUS CHRISTIE 

Another seaport, is an important harbor witli a olianging bar. 

BRAZOS, ST. lAGO, 

an important liarbor with nine or ten feet water over the bar, occasion- 
ally changeable. 

LAVACCA, 

an important seaport inside and within the same harbor as Indianola. 

There are fonrteen steamships, all first class, forming one line, trading 
and making regnlar trips to and from New Orleans to many of the 
seaports of Texas. These are owned by Charles Morgan & Co., and 
known as the Morgan Line of United States Mail Steamers, and have 
a capacity of one thousand tons each. The names are as follows : 

The Agnes, Austi^t, Clixtox, .1. C. Harris, Josephixe, Saint Mary, 
City of Norfolk, Alajjama, AV. G. Hewes, 3Iata(;orda, Harlan, 
Hutchinson, Morgan and Whitney. 

All running regularly to New Orleans and Brashear City, the ter- 
minus of Morgan's Louisiana and Texas Railroad, to harbors and sea- 
ports of Texas, as follows, to wit : Sabtne Pass, Galveston, Indian- 
ola, Lavacca, Rockport and Brazos, St. Iago. 

The number of cattle yearly shi])ped by these steamships from Texas, 
exceed seventy-five thousand head, and the business is rapidly 
increasing. 

The writer is unable to give a full and accurate account of all steam- 
shijjs, sail vessels, big and little, that have entered and departed from 
the different seaports during the year. Suffice it to say, that Texas 
with her rich and cheaj) lands, and equable climate, so near and contig- 
uous to seaports, offers greater inducements to the emigrant than any of 
the inland or far westei-n states. 



mviJRS ijsr te:kas. 

NECHES 

is navigable one hundred miles from Sabine Pass, the seaport and 
harbor on the Gulf, and steamboats run regular throughout the year. 



13 
TRINITY RIVER 

jjenetrates into the heart of Texas, some six or seven hundred miles 
from the Gulf, navigable with steamers, being mail {)aekets to and from 
Galveston, making regular trips. 

BRAZOS RIVER 

is navigable to a point about three hundred miles from the Gulf. 

COLORADO RIVER 

is navigable about one hundred and fifty miles emptying into Matagorda 
Bav. 

BUFFALO BAYOU 

navigable from Galveston on the Gulf to Houston, about eighty miles^ 
with a daily line of steamboats to and from (-ralveston. 



JRAILM OAnS. 

Galveston, Houston and Henderson Road, 

From Galveston to Houston, fifty-one miles, connects at Harrisburg^ 
forty-five miles from Galveston, with the Galveston, Houston and San 
Antonio Railroad, also connects at Houston with'tlu^ Houston and 
Texas Central Railroad. 

HOUSTON AND TEXAS CENTRAL RAILROAD, 

connecting at Houston with tlic Galveston, Houston and Henderson) 
Railroad, i-unning tlience somewhat west of a northerly course to- 
Preston on the north line of the State to the Indian Territory, about 
three hundred and fifty miles in length of wliicli is completed, and cars- 
running daily to Groesbeck, one hundred and seventy miles, connects 
at Hempstead, fifty miles from Houston, with the Branch Railroad,, 
owned and controlled by the said raili-oad to Austin, one hundred and 
eighteen miles from Hempstead, and also connects at Hearne, one hun- 
dred and twenty miles from Houston, with the International liailroad ; 
and at Bremond, one luiiidred and forty-three mih's from Houston, with. 



14 

the Waco Tap and North-western Kailroad ; also, connects in Navarro 
Oounty with Texas Pacific Railroad, and at its terminus, is to connect 
with the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston Railroad, of which 
James F. Joy, President of the Michigan Central Railroad, aiid Boston 
Capitalists control, and probably will connect with the Missouri, Kansas 
and Texas Railroad, and has by its charter from the State, the right 
and privilege to build and extend its road to Galveston, and without 
doubt its growing needs will compel the same. 

SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD 

has constructed and completed its road to J^oiigview, about sixty-six 
miles from Shrevesport, with cars running daily. 

GALVESTON, HOUSTON AND SAN ATONIO ROAD, 

two hundred and three miles in length, six miles liclow Houston 
connects with the Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad, is com- 
pleted to Columbus, eighty-three miles, with ears running daily, 

HOUSTON TAP AND BRAZORIA RAILROAD 

commences and connects at the junction, seven miles from Houston, 
with the ButFalo, Brazos and Colorado Road, cars run regularly to 
Columbia, a distance of fifty miles. 

WACO TAP RAILROAD, 

From its connection with the Houston and Texas Central Railroad 
at Bremond,. from Bremond to Waco, in McClennan County, is in course 
of construction and will be finished soon, is considered but a link of the 
proposed extension of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad, from 
the State line into the cattle regions of the State. 

INTERNATIONAL RAILROAD, 

By its charter will be about six hundred miles in length, with ten 
thousand dollars per mile given as a bonus, donated by the State in 
bonds bearing eight per cent, interest. It passes through the State, 
through Austin, New Brannfield, San Antonio and other South-westei'n 
connections, on through Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. It is intended 
to connect at Fulton, with the Illinois Central and the Memphis, Little 
I Jock and Foi't Smith Roads, and it will in all probability intersect 
with otlier roads at that point. 



15 

Well known capitalists of New York }la^T' the control and manaiie- 
nient of this great thoroughfare and southern highway to the east. 

At Hearne, one hundred and seventy-one miles from Galveston, where 
it connects with the Houston and Texas Central Railroad, it has a large 
force employed in its constru(^tion, and is making rapid progress in 
either direction. It is destined to 1>e a niighty thoroughfare, and bids 
fair to he one of the most im})ortant and lucrative railroads on the 
continent. 

TEXAS PACIFIC RAILROAD, 

commencing and connecting with the Southern Pacific Kailroads in the 
North-eastern part of the State, and passing through the entire length 
of the State, to San Diego on the Pacific Ocean, and with its connect- 
ions, is destined to be one of tlie great railroads of the country, with an 
immense business to San Francisco and other important ])laces in 
California. 

It has a large grant of land from the United States, and liberal aid 
from the State. Its Board of Directors are men of well known relia- 
bility, with the name of Marshall O, Roberts as President, which will 
carry a strength and financial credit not only in this country biit in 
Europe, and is destined to do a large East India trade, not only to this 
country but tt) all j^arts of the world. 

THE HOUSTON AND GREAT NORTHERN ROAD, 

now in course of construction to tlie uortii iiiie oi tne State, intendinu' 
probably to connect with some one or more roads from the North- 
western States, but its precise terminus is not known to the writer, 
when completed will be about three hundred and fifty miles from 
Houston, has a grant of sixteen sections of land per mile from the 
State. C. J. Young, of New York, is President. 

TEXAS AND NEW ORLEANS ROAD, 

from Houston to Orange on the Sabine, has been completed one hun- 
dred and eight miles, but is now in the hands of a Receiver. 

CHATTANOOGA ROAD, 

now in course of construction from the Mississippi River, opposite 
New Orleans, penetrating tlie State in a westerly direction, but whether 
its terminus will be at Houston or elsewhere is unknown. 



16 

There are a number of other roads incorporated, as will appear by 
the statutes of the State, of which the writer is unable to give a 
satisfactory account. Neveilheless, it is safe to say that in a few years 
there will be a net work of railroads completed, unsurpassed by other 
sections of the country and extending all over the State, 

The several railroads now constructing from the North-western and 
Southern States, under the management of well known capitalists, with 
large grants of lands from the general government and the State, will 
undoubtedly continue to be pushed with great vigor, until all the rich 
prairie lands and cattle regions are made accessible by rail, and have 
all the benefits and facilities of railroad transportation, whereby cattle, 
sheep, hogs and other live stock when in good order can be transport- 
ed by cws to the Chicago cattle yards, and to all other markets of the 
country in about as many days as it now takes months by driving them 
on foot, while cattle in good order when starting, now become jaded, 
loose their flesh and often become diseased by driving. Of course 
with these facilities for rapid and easy shipment, the stock raiser will 
be greatly benefited, receiving at least twice as much as he now does 
for the sale of his cattle. 

The price of cattle in Texas varies in different parts of the State. 
In the counties in the vicinity of the Houston and Texas Central Kail- 
road, on the Southern line, cattle can be obtained at prices as follows : 
one year old, from one dollar and a half to two dollars per head; two 
year old, from six to eight dollars ; and three year old, from ten to 
twelve dollars per head, while in other parts of the State they can be 
bought at considerably less figures. The writer in passing through 
some ot these counties has seen milch cows with calves by their side 
sell for ten and twelve dollars, worth at the North not less than forty 
dollars, and very large working cattle in fine condition and well broke, 
sell at from forty to fifty dollars a yoke, while at the North and other 
parts of the United States, these large working oxen would readily 
command, say two hundred dollars or thereabouts, 

I agaio repeat, that, when the several railroads penetrate the cattle 
regions, they will necessarily largely increase in value. Of the many 
estimates made of the number of cattle shipped the past year, the writer 
is of the opinion that it is in excess of half a million head taken off the 
Prairies and sent to various parts of the United States, and probably 
some as- heretofore have been shipped to the Island of Cuba, 



17 

Tliere are cattle raisers in different parts of the State who do not 
own a foot of land, some of whom have extensive herds of cattle. 

It may not be amiss to give the following letter from the writer, and 
published in the " Niles Democrat^ 

LETTER FROM TEXAS. 

We publish, by permission, a very interesting letter published by 
the Hon. R. P. Barker. The reliability of the writer, he being one ot 
the oldest citizens in this community, and standing as he does, pre-emi- 
nent for his integrity, adds, in our opinion, much to the value of the 
letter. iVJr. J^arker has promised to write us at a future time an article 
for our paper more at length on Texas, its lands, its inhabitants, ad' 
vantages and inducements fur emigration, which we will publish. 

Bryan, Brazos County, Texas, ) 
April 12th, 1870. [ 

Henry Weaver — Dear Sir : —\ am now in Texas, tlie " Lone Star State.'' 
In traveling through Tennessee, Mississipjji and Louisiana to I;his point, about 
one hundred and fifty miles into the interior of this great State, an empire in 
itself, I have met a great many Southern men, rebels, and have invariably re- 
ceived kindness and met with a coi'dial reception, and in no instance discour- 
tesy or an act of unfriendliness from these people. And I must say that not- 
withstanding the prejudices under which I in common with all of you labored, 
as to the feelings here, I am now convinced from actual experience and obser- 
vation, that a Northern man, it don't matter what his politics are, or what he 
may nave been, is just as safe here as in Michigan. You know, Mr. Weaver, 
that your son Stephen served the Union and sustained the flag four years dur- 
ing the rebellion, and did his duty faithfully as a good soldier, and during our 
travels Soutli he has invariably, in company with myself and my boy, never 
Uesitated to tell these rebels what he did and what he was, whenever an oppor- 
tunity offered, but notwithstanding, this has not seemed to make any difler- 
ence, or to lessen their friendliness towards him. As proof of the wrong im- 
pressions we were all under as regards these people, I would tell you one in- 
stance of the many evidences of friendship your son Stephen and myself have 
received at their hands. It is here at Bryan, I met an ex-rebel otlicer, a Major 
of Tom Green's Texas C'avalry. This Major had lost his right arm in fighting 
the North, and had received other wounds. He is a man of consideral'le 
notoriety as a rebel, and is a lawyer of reputation, and well known over the 
State. Well, I met and 'became acquainted with this wounded rebel Texas 



18 

Major. I remarked in introducing to him your son Stephen, that he was from 
the State of Michigan, and had served as a soldier throughout the war in 
sustaining the flag and the Union, and had done all he could to help conquer 
them, and he was proud of it. Nevertheless the Major replied by welcoming 
him cordially to the State, and said he was glad to see such men moving into 
the State, that he knew we had heard many bad stories about them, but he 
thought we would not find the rebels altogether as bad as represented. He 
oflered to assist him in any way he could, and to give letters of introduction 
to his friends anywhere in the State, and to many prominent men of his ac- 
quaintance in the section of the country where your son Stephen and my boy 
Walter may probably settle. 

Now with regard to my views and knowledge of this State. There are 
millions of acres of unimproved and uncultivated laud, part of which is best 
adapted and can be set ofl:' for stock raising of cattle and sheeji, and the rest, 
the larger portion, may be put into farms, which farms will produce cotton, 
corn winter wheat, tobacco and almost every, if not all the products we have 
in Michigan and the Western States, besides being, as I believe, the best fruit 
country in the United States. There is enough land in Texas to make several 
States as large as the older States of the Union. The climate is not only good 
but delightful, and as regards health, it is uusuri^assed. The land is very rich 
and claimed to be the garden of the continent. The prairies are covered with 
green grass, aflbrding excellent grazing. Upon these prairies are seen large 
flocks of sheep and innumerable herds of cattle, and an intelligent farmer from 
the North in Texas, remarketl to me that he believed there was more cattle in 
Texas tiian all the rest of tlie United States. 1 have heard of men who own 
tens of thousands of head. The cattle raisers are all over the State and a 
cfreat many of them own thousands and others own hundreds, and so on to a 
less number, and each by law has his own brand. The winters in Texas are so 
mild that all these cattle feed upon the prairies throughout the year without 
beino- taken up and without fodder or expense to the owner. Immense num- 
bers of cattle are driven or transported to California, Cuba, and most of the 
Northern Western and Southern States. There is a great many large and small 
packing houses, which slaughter for the hides and tallow. The lands in Texas 
heretofore have been very cheap, but since the war and the abolition of slavery, 
rapidly rising in value. The tide of emigration the past season antl this 
spring was very heavy. I have heard it estimated at one and two hundred 
thousand, and of course land must continue to rise in value. The greatest 
trouble about land is that speculators, since the war, and the abolition of 
slavery, have been buying them up at low figures and are holding them at 
what is in comparison, high Ijgures. That is, they have bought from twenty- 
tive to fifty cents and so on per acre and sell at lioni two to five and six dollars 
per acre, but you in Michigan would not call it high. But I don't see why 



19 

they should not yet gu up to Michigan prices. In tliis section they have a 
pretty good Railroad for a new country, the Texas Central running from Gal- 
veston, a seaport, to thin town and moving on slowly northward. The lands 
being rich and productive, I can't see any reason why they should not yet go 
much higher. Many other railroads are now being constructed and others in 
contemplation by well known capitalists, and will undoubtedly soon be made 
and completed, and as this is considered one of the finest States to build rail- 
roads in, I expect in a few years railroads will be all over it like the State of 
Illinois. Many of these roads will diverge with their connections from Gal- 
veston, which is a seaport and has vessels running into its harbor from all 
parts of the world. With the many roads centering to Galveston with its great 
and prospective conimei'ce, with rich lands, and the farm products at prices 
higher here at Galveston than at St. Louis, Cincinnati, Chicago or any other 
inland city, and ever will be, inasmuch as Galveston is a seajiort, why should 
not lauds in Texas be as of much value as anywhere in the United States? 

I think this State has a great future. I quote from the Phughboy of June 
36th, 1869, as follows : 

"Many years ago we ceased cruising and anchored in Texas. Having 
tried i1 thoroughly, in sickness and health, in prosperity and adversity, in 
peace and war, we have decided beyond a doubt that we like it. Nor has this 
conclusion been leaped at, it is not tlie dream of a mind enthusied by jjicturesque 
scenery, balmy breezes and glorious sunshine,' it is not the conclusion of one 
determined to be pleased, but it is the result of reason, a deduction fairly 
drawn by our own experience and confirmed by the experience of others. Yes, 
we like Texas. We are proud of her illimitable resources. We glory in the 
wide, envious sweep of her territory — from the Sabine to the Rio Grande, from 
Arizona to the gulf — the prospective mother of nations, seizing in her govern- 
mental grasp a dozen parallels of latitude, and as many degrees of longitude, 
stretching her crescent course far, far around the Mediterranean of the new 
world and rolling back from its glittering beach her flower decked i)rairies 
to blend gradually with the rolling sweeps and distant mountains of her in- 
terior. We like her diversified soil, prolific in all the elements of reproduction, 
and which, if ever so gently ■tickled with a hoe will smile with a harvest." 
We like her balmy breezes laden with the invigorating nutriment of pure air, 
antl bearing healing on its wings. We like like the gorgeous beauty of her 
moonlight, the soft tranquility of her sunset, and the golden splendor of her 
dawn. 

These features all excite our admiration, and woo us to content. But there 
are more practical reasons why we like much the land which we have selected 
for our home, Texas is the best poor man's home on earth. Here he can live 
comfortably with less wear and tear of brawn and brain than elsewhere; and 
here, by reasonable thrift and ecwm)my, he can acquire that competence for 



20 

which he would have toiled in vain upon the barren hills ur in the glutted 
marts of the older States. Here the investment of a small capital pays a better 
interest than elsewhere, and there are a fewei number of bankrui^t debtors and 
sorrowing creditors than in any other State in the Union. 

The frugal farmer of good repute, can at all times obtain cash advances on 
his prospective crop. The market, in the interior, is not affected by the fluctua- 
tions of currency or the sinister fictions of Wall Street Bulls and Bears. Hard 
money — principally Mexican silver — with its musical jingle, is the common 
re2:)resentative of value ; and the horny hand of labor closes its honest palm 
ujjon wages that no sudden national calamity or unscrupulous speculators can 
depreciate. 

Here, while men can almost live without labor, industry meets with a com- 
mensurate reward, and Nature responds j^romptly to every demand made upon 
her resources. And more than all else that we can say for Texas is, the vast 
margin which our primitive mode and deficient means of culture has left for 
the development of the soil. 

In short, amid all her vast endowment of blessings, we have not yet found 
one evil which may not be rectified by time and jprogress, or so much amelior- 
ated by the genius of man as to be unworthy of a reckoning. 

We now say to our restless, dissatisfied neighbors of the Northwest, do as we 
have done, come to Texas, and you will soon like it as we do." 

Tne above (quotations expresses the truth, but not the whole truth, it is 
worthy of notice and sets forth my views and embodies what soon will be the 
general sentiment of the American people and the peoples of the world. 
Believing that this letter will be of use to the community I remain yours 
sincerely, 

RICHARD P. BARKER. 



There is probably no country that luis a better climate and more 
suitable lands for the growing and cultivation of grapes than Texas, 
which unquestionably will have extensive vineyards, and make im- 
mense quantities of the very finest quality of wines, which will in time 
vie with the productions of any part of the world. 

The emigrant can buy improved farms on time with reasonable pay- 
ments, which he will, as I have shown, be able to meet ; the harvest 
being so abundant. Or in many of the counties, he can rent improved 
lands, paying the owner one-third of the wheat, corn and other grain, 
and one-fourth of the cotton yield. In many instances farms are work- 
ed, the owner furnishing teams, farming utensils, tkc, and receiving 
a somewhat larger share of the productions. 



21 

The writer coutends that the neavuess of a tn I'ln to a seaport addh' 
to its value, and that cheap and desirable lauds iu Texas, being distant 
only two or three hundred miles from a seaport, ought certainly to be 
of more value tor farming purposes and emigration than lands in the 
inland states at the same price, distant from fifteen hundred to two 
thousand miles from a seaport. 

In all new countries tlie early settlers can obtain larger prices for 
their products while the lands are being settled than after they are all 
taken up and are under cultivation with a surplus of productions, and 
therefore, in due time the producer will have to depend on the inland 
markets for the sale of his crops, which are always governed by the 
prices at the nearest seaport, the purchaser deducting from such j:)rices 
his commission or profits, transportation and various other incidental 
expenditures before he realizes his outlays, all of which is a tax on 
the producer. 

The emigrant, looking at the future, cannot but think that the cheap 
lands of Texas, from their proximity to seaports, are much more desi- 
rable than the far inland and Western States. 

The climate is such in Texas that the laboring man can work every 
day in the year, while it takes a large share of the earnings of a farmer 
at the North during the summer, to feed, clothe and shelter and take 
care of his family and live stock, during the winter. Such an ex- 
perience is uuknown in Texas, and the pecuniary advantage is apparent 
to the most superficial observer. 

There are in several counties iu which there are large beds of coal, 
and future discoveries will add greatly to the supply, and there are 
some ten counties in which iron ore is known to be abundant, and 
without doubt, this ore can be found in many otlier counties. 

Medicinal Springs are in some eight or ten counties, many of which 
are resorted to by invalids, and they are not considered inferior to any 
in the country. 

Minerals are to be found in Archer, DeWitt, Duval and other 
counties. El Paso, Gillespie, San Saba and soine others have their 
silver mines. Slavo County has silver and gold mines. Presidio 
County has silver mines and gold quartz. 

It is believed that there are valuable minerals in many of the coun- 
Ifiee infested with Indians, and not yet organized. 

Petroleum is abundant in Angelina, Burnet, Liberty, Sabine and 
San Augustine Counties, 



22 

SALT. 

VvMthiu 15 or 20 miles of Corpus Christie, a seaport on the Gulf, in 
the County of Nueces there is an inexhaustible quantity of Salt, which 
is claimed to be the best in the world. In the adjourning county, 
Hidalgo, is a large Salt Lake of the same quality. The Lake is situated 
about forty miles from Edinburgh, a Town on the Rio Grande River, 
thence navigable to the Gulf. 

I herewith annex a letter recently received from Edinburgh. 

R. P. BARKER, Esq. 

Deak Sir : Your letter, after being about one month on the way, reached 
me, and I hasten to give you such iuformation as I have in regard to el Sal de 
Rey or great Salt Lake of this County. 

A great deal of Salt from this deposit or lake has passed under my inspect- 
ion, and yesterday I saw the owner, Mr. Salvador Cardenas, from whom I learned 
the following facts : The Lake is about live miles long and two miles wide 
Its depth is controlled entirely by the Rio Grande River, although situated at 
least forty miles to the North-east of it. W hen the Rio Grande overflows, 
it runs out about four miles above this place, and runs to the Lake and floods 
it and all the surrounding low lands to the coast, but in extreme dry time 
the Lake goes entirely dry, as it was this season and is now, except the water 
gathering from the recent heavy rains. But the Salt is not i^roeured by any 
human process; it is a natural formation of Salt from one to two feet thick. 
x4.ll you have to do is to drive your wagon up, and by the aid of a crow bar, 
break the Salt up and fill your wagon or wagons. The dryer the lake, the 
easier it is to get the Salt, for when the water is up you have to work in the 
water, which I suppose averages some ten feet in depth. The water no sooner 
gets into the basin than it becomes so greatly impregnated that it can be used 
to salt fresh beef with, which is frequently done by those living in the viciidty. 
And the strangest thing about this Salt bed is that it appears to be inexhaus- 
tible, where you might take out a wagon load to-day, you can return in a few 
days and take auotlier load from the same place. The Mexicans frequently 
set a small pole in so that it will remain erect, and in a short while there will 
adhere to it a coat of solid Salt a foot or more in diameter, as far up as the 
surface of the water. This they set up in their houses and use oft' of it as they 
require it. As to the quality of the Salt, I consider it better than the Liver- 
pool, as it is, when ground, fully as white and much stronger; contains more 
Saltpetre and is the best quality, the Mexicans acknowledging that it is far 



2H 

superior to anj of their salines. As I luive belbre reuiarl^ed, the supply seems 
inexhausiil)le as it forms anew as fast as taken out. 

There are other Lakes situated in this county, but the Salt is not so good. 

I believe I have answered all of your questions, and although awkwardly, 
all the statements mad« are strictly true, and may be relied on fully without 
the least fear of contradiction. 

Hoping that the information may prove satisfactory, and further, that the 
delay has not inconvenienced you. I am, dear sir, 

Yours truly, 

A. RUTLEDGE, 

C. D. C. Hidalgo Co. 



Mesquite grass is common to moht }>arts of the State, and horses, 
mules, cattle, sheep and other stock will keep fat on it almost as well 
as upon grain, and will lenve all other grass to get it in the winter, 
and season of droughts. This grass presents a dry appearance during 
the winter, but retains its nutricious qualities. 

The homestead and exemption laws are more liberal than elsewhere, 
besides there is a community interest, whereby, a widow holds a very 
munilicient allowance of the property acquired in common with her 
deceased husband. 

The future of Texas is a boundless empire, and whether divided or 
not, is bound to concentrate more wealth and power than any other 
Territory of equal extent in the Union. 



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